Binging every friday night - help!

steffipaulina
steffipaulina Posts: 161
in Health and Weight Loss
For the past 3 Fridays in a row I've been overeating/binging. I just get an overwhelming feeling of hunger and cant stop. What should I do to stop this? I've been netting pretty low calories (esp. this week) because I don't have an HRM yet and I don't want to get overzealous with eating back my exercise calories with the chance I'm not burning as much as I think. I looked at my net calorie report and it's a pattern of spiking up then down. I want to be more constistant but don't know what exactly I should be going for.

I'm getting an HRM soon - but until then what should I do? I'm scared to eat something like 1800 cals a day consistently...

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    yeah...you're probably not eating enough during the week. I don't know...while I was losing it was kind of annoying because I couldn't stuff my face, but I was never hungry and never felt deprived. maybe your calorie goals are too aggressive...I started out with 2 Lbs per week like most people do which gave me as a male @ 5'10" a mere 1,350 calories...even with exercise I was extremely hungry and knew I wasn't going to stick with this for the long term and as long as it was going to take me to lose my weight...so I opted for the slower but much more sustainable option of around 1 Lb per week plus my exercise calories....I did that and like I said...kind of annoying but I wasn't hungry or anything. That gave me around 2200 - 2300 gross calories per day.

    The reason you think 1800 is so much is because you've never looked at the numbers like this before...1800 is nothing and is short of what the average woman eats to maintain with little in the way of deliberate exercise. My wife is 5'2" and pushing 40 and maintains at around 2300 - 2400 calories. Also, the diet and fitness industry has absolutely ruined women IMHO...they've led you to believe that you need to eat like little birdies for so long that it's pretty hard to get through to any female that that is not the case.
  • jacklo
    jacklo Posts: 17
    Boy...that's a tough one. I get those same hunger pangs at least a couple of times a week. Here's how I get through them when I do (although what works for me isn't necessarily a solution for everyone): (A) I drink coffee, which seems to work quite well (mostly in the mornings); (B) I eat something that's low carb...can you imagine eating more than two grilled chicken breasts in one sitting and still be hungry afterwards? (C) It's really bad for me, but I drink a Splenda-based diet soft drink (Publix, assuming you're in a Publix market, makes them); (D) I use sheer willpower. Sooner or later, you're going to cave in, however. No one is perfect.

    By the way, if I work out with enough intensity (but I cannot do so when I'm starving), that seems to prolong hunger fairly well. Lastly, and this may not work for everyone, and some people bash it, but I'm a big fan of intermittent fasting, which is something I am doing right now. Good luck!
  • steffipaulina
    steffipaulina Posts: 161
    yeah...you're probably not eating enough during the week. I don't know...while I was losing it was kind of annoying because I couldn't stuff my face, but I was never hungry and never felt deprived. maybe your calorie goals are too aggressive...I started out with 2 Lbs per week like most people do which gave me as a male @ 5'10" a mere 1,350 calories...even with exercise I was extremely hungry and knew I wasn't going to stick with this for the long term and as long as it was going to take me to lose my weight...so I opted for the slower but much more sustainable option of around 1 Lb per week plus my exercise calories....I did that and like I said...kind of annoying but I wasn't hungry or anything. That gave me around 2200 - 2300 gross calories per day.

    The reason you think 1800 is so much is because you've never looked at the numbers like this before...1800 is nothing and is short of what the average woman eats to maintain with little in the way of deliberate exercise. My wife is 5'2" and pushing 40 and maintains at around 2300 - 2400 calories. Also, the diet and fitness industry has absolutely ruined women IMHO...they've led you to believe that you need to eat like little birdies for so long that it's pretty hard to get through to any female that that is not the case.

    This is pretty much my problem that I've had since I was about 13 yrs old. I've lived off of 500 -1000 calories for most of my teenage life. It was brutal and now I have a have a hard time being okay with eating so many calories - I feel guilty about it and end up restricting the next day. Ughhh. I'm just scared I've ruined my metabolism and will gain weight if i eat more.
  • steffipaulina
    steffipaulina Posts: 161
    Also, my long term goal is to be focusing gaining muscle ... should i just focus on that and forget about calorie reduction?
  • djxil
    djxil Posts: 357
    I will tell you what I do and it keeps me pretty honest - I weigh in once a week, on Sunday, it makes me think twice about eating too much or drinking too much over the weekend. It's worked for the last 70 days. Good luck.
  • broox80
    broox80 Posts: 1,195 Member
    I am in my 30's, hypothyroid, and 5'1!! I net 1500-2000 cals a day!!! Gradually add some more calories in, like 100 or so at a time. It will help. Figure out your bmr and tdee, take 15% from your tdee and work your way up to it!! It sounds scary but it will work!!
  • loricshields47
    loricshields47 Posts: 134 Member
    If your goal is to add muscle you are going to need to eat that 1800 plus. With much of it coming from protein.~ yumm. Consider focusing more on what you are eating ~aim for 1 gram of protein /lb of body weight and let the cals work themselves out.

    I know it seems like a lot of cals but it is doable. My daily goal when working with weights is over 1800.(I still have some bf %
    to shed so i am a little cautios) I don't always get there but I don't fear it anymore either. I always get there and then some on Fridays!
    Chances are you are just under eating all week and adding a few more cals each day will leave you feeling less inclined to binge. Unless of course its your plan.

    good luck
  • steffipaulina
    steffipaulina Posts: 161
    I'm going to try reverse dieting for a bit. Add 100 calories a week and going from there. Thanks for the advice everyone!

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